Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to participate in the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun until today. Six questions naming 4 people or items. This week will be the first three questions. For more information concerning what SNGF is please go to Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings post. The answers are of direct ancestors – not collateral lines.

What four places did my ancestors live that are geographically the farthest from where I am today?

Hartford, Connecticut: my 2nd-7th great-grandfathers were born, lived or died there (William House 1642-1703 / William House 1684-1742 / William House 1713-1788 / Lazarus House 1748-1817 / Allen House 1791 in Connecticut – died Michigan 1845 / Florus Allen House 1813 in Connecticut – died Ohio 1891)

Suffolk, England: my 9th great-grandparents John Bigelow was born there in 1617 and died Watertown, Massachusetts in 1703 and Mary Warren born in Suffolk about 1624 and died Massachusetts in 1691.

Alsace, France: my 6th great-grandparents, Nicholas (Hans) Feuerstein and Anna Nonnemacher. He was born there in 1712 and died in Pennsylvania before 1768. She was born there in 1711 and died in York county, Pennsylvania about 1760.

The John Hollister Housein Glastonbury, Connecticut was built about 1649 according to “The HIstorical Society of Glastonbury” (Architecture page). It is located at 14 Tryon Street. This was the ancestral home for the Hollister family for many generations. Lieutenant John Hollister was born in 1612 in England and came to America around 1642 (1). Lt. Hollister married Joanna Treat, daughter of Richard and Joanna Treat, and eight children were born to this union: Elizabeth, John Jr, Thomas, Joseph, Lazarus, Mary, Sarah, and Stephen. Hollister Sr. died after April 3. 1665 and left a will naming his widow and living children and the children of daughter, Elizabeth. His burial location is unknown.

John and Joanna Hollister are my 8th great-grandparents through their son, John Jr. He married Sarah Goodrich and through their son Thomas who married Dorothy Hills. Their daughter, Hannah Hollister, married William House and through their son, my 4th great-grandfather, Lazarus House. He married Rebecca Risley and their son, Allen House, married Editha Bigelow. Their son, Florus Allen House, married Julia Ann Lewis, and their son, James Emory House, was the father of my paternal grandmother, Ella Maria House, with his second wife, Frances Virginia Ogan.

My House and Hollister ancestors all lived in Hartford, Connecticut since the mid-1600’s. They were founders of Wethersfield and many are buried in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford county. I would like to visit the area to walk the same places they did; view the historical John Hollister House; and pay my respects to all my many times great-grandparents in the cemeteries there.

Editha Bigelow, born on April 8, 1791 in Brookfield, Vermont, is my three times great-grandmother on my father’s side. Her parents, Eli Bigelow and Anna Freeman, were married on September 10, 1778 in Brookfield (Source: Vermont, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, Montpelier, Vital Records, 1760-2003; Ancestry.com.) by Rev. Elijah Lyman.

Editha was their seventh child preceded by Asa (born 1779), Anna (born 1781), Amasa (born 1783), Asa (born 1785), Mergit (born 1787), and Eli (born 1788) and followed by Susanna (born 1793) and Seth Gilbert. Editha’s oldest sibling Asa died at less than 2 years old, and as was more common in that time, the parents went on to name another child Asa several years later. The father, Eli, died on March 22, 1836 in Chatham, Connecticut (Source:index, FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7CC-TPX : accessed 05 Aug 2013, Eli Bigelow, 22 Mar 1836; citing reference p 102, FHL microfilm 3089.) and is buried at Mount Parnassus Burying Ground (Source: Find a Grave, Memorial #36942989). Anna’s date of death is unknown.

At the age of 21, Editha married Allen House on June 15, 1812 in East Hampton, Connecticut. Her new husband was 2 months her junior. The couple had five children: Florus Allen (my 2nd great-grandfather; born in 1813), Nelson W. (born 1815), Amasa (born 1817), Eli (born 1824), and Abigail (born 1826). Due to the seven years between Amasa’s and Eli’s birth, I suspect that there was at least one if not two other children who were born and died – or perhaps miscarried and/or stillborn – between them. The family had moved to New York and then to Milford, Michigan by the mid-1830s, where they remained until their deaths. Allen died on September 1, 1845 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Milford (Source: Find a Grave, Memorial #55024034). Editha died on October 20, 1865 and was buried next to her husband (Source: Find a Grave, Memorial #55024034).

My third great-grandfather, Allen House (b. June 13, 1791 d. Sep 1, 1845) married Editha Bigelow (b. Apr 19, 1791 d. Oct 20, 1865) on June 15, 1812 in Middlesex County, Connecticut. They had five children: Florus Allen (my 2nd great-grandfather), Nelson W., Amasa G., Eli H., and Abigail. Allen was enumerated in the 1820 Census as living in Jerusalem, Ontario, New York. The household included 4 free white males under the age of 10, 1 free white male between 10-44, and 1 free white female between 10-44. By the 1830 Census, Allen was living in Ovid, Seneca, New York with a household that included: 1 free white male ages 5-9; 3 white males 10-14; 2 free white males 15-19; and 1 free white male 30-39. It also included 1 free white female 5-9 and 1 free white female ages 30-39. Since that makes two more males and one more female, the couple either had other children or relatives/roomers living with them.

Editha Bigelow was the daughter of Eli Bigelow and Anna Freeman. Eli was born on May 29, 1756 in Colchester, Connecticut and died March 22, 1836 in Brookfield, Vermont. On Find a Grave, Eli is listed as buried in Mount Parnassus Burying Ground in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

Eli was the son of Amasa Bigelow and Jemima Strong who married the end of December 1754 in New London, Connecticut.

The Bigelow family stretches back reportedly to Ralph of O Baugley in England. According to the Bigelow Family Site, (webmaster is Rob Bigelow of New York), the immigrant ancestor is John Biglo.

If you want to see if you are a member of this prominent New England family, please go to the Bigelow Family Site (link above). There are many links to information concerning the Bigelow family including published genealogies.

(Bigelow Coat of Arms image is from the Bigelow Family Site – no copyright infringement intended).

(Sources for most of the names and dates for this post came from The Bigelow Society, the Bigelow Family Site; copyright 2009 Bigelow Society, Inc).

(Census information obtained from the 1820 and 1830 United States Censuses on Heritage Quest; digital images).

This is my submission for the 56th Carnival of Genealogy being hosted by Lori Thornton at Smoky Mountain Family Historian. The topic is 10 essential books in my genealogy library.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to buy a lot of the books I really should. Some I’ve checked (& re-checked) out of the local library. Others I’ve been able to find on Google Books. So without further ado:

2. The Genealogy of the Loveland Family in the United States of America from 1635 to 1892. By J.B. Loveland, Fremont, O., and George Loveland, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Vol. 1; Freemont, Ohio; I.M. Keeler and Son, printers; 1892.

3. The Risley Family History. By Edwin H. Risley of Utica, N.Y.; The Grafton Press; Genealogical Publishers; New York; MCMIX; Copyright 1909 by Edwin H. Risley.